Chicken or the Egg?

[Thrudh]

I was re-reading some of the earlier strips...

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0113.html

Look behind the Momma's chair in the seventh panel... Is that Roy's little brother?? Did he draw that little guy just for fun and then add him to the heaven montage later?

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0496.html

Or had he already thought that far ahead and put that little guy in there on purpose?

Either way, I like Rich. :)

[factotum]

It could be Roy's little brother, or it could be his little sister Julia--difficult to say for sure. Although, given how young Roy appears to be, it suggests it's more likely to be lil' bruv than her (she's about 12 years younger than him, IIRC).

[theinsulabot]

i think it was a mistake on the giant's part, the baby was originally julia, then he decided julia was younger then she could of possibly been in that picture, so middle baby brother got ret-conned in.

[Zom B]

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0496.html

Dang it. Thanks for making me tear up all over again.

[Thrudh]

Dang it. Thanks for making me tear up all over again.

I know! Amazing that a comic can make me get all emotional...

[The Extinguisher]

I always thought it was supposed to be Julia, then Julia showed up, and then we, the forums did our pedantic thing and crunched numbers to show that it couldn't possibly be Julia at all. And then Eric was added.

But it might not be. It could be Rich planned really far ahead for that. I don't know.

[drengnikrafe]

I have come to a conclusion about Rich in his writing. It's one (or more) of a few things. Either...
A) He plans things incredibly far in advance (I.E. When the party found the ring of jumping, Rich already knew it would allow Roy to jump on Xykon's dragon).
B) He keeps a list somewhere of all the things the party has, and uses them when they become useful. (I.E. When the party found the ring of jumping, Rich wrote it down on a piece of paper, and later, when he needed to figure out how Roy would confront him personally, he saw "ring of jumping", and... well, jumped on the idea).
C) He keeps a comprehensive list of every character in the universe, and makes sure his timeline is perfect, and he never contradicts himself, excepting rule of funny.
D) More than one of the above.

[TruorTupnm]

Most likely ---> He showed a scene of a young Roy interested in the family sword. He added a younger sibling, just to make the panel more interesting, thinking, "Hey, mayhaps some sibling of Roy can be worked into the story, at some point." Not a lot of forethought was necessary, and it's just a cool little detail, for when he did think up a use for that sibling.

[Forbiddenwar]

Most likely ---> He showed a scene of a young Roy interested in the family sword. He added a younger sibling, just to make the panel more interesting, thinking, "Hey, mayhaps some sibling of Roy can be worked into the story, at some point." Not a lot of forethought was necessary, and it's just a cool little detail, for when he did think up a use for that sibling.

This. It's key for good storytelling. Allowing a twig to become a branch to become the enitire story, if the story goes that way. Give lots of options out in the beginning, and pin them down later.